Up Close with Hippos in iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa

My hippo tour in iSimangaliso Wetland Park was one of the highlights of my trip to South Africa!

iSimangaliso Wetland Park is South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site spanning 280km of coast line. Its home to species such as the endangered Samango Monkeys, crocodiles and a whopping population of approximately 800 hippos!

Although hippos are herbivores (plant eaters), they are considered to be one of the most dangerous animals in all of Africa. They don’t want to eat you, but they do want to keep you out of their territory. Heritage Tours and Safaris takes you up and close to hippos (safely on an open air covered boat) in the largest estuary in Africa.

Observing hippos in their natural habitat is one of the most incredible wildlife viewing experiences I’ve ever had!

On our two-hour cruise up the estuary I learned that hippos can’t swim or even float for that matter. They simple walk or gallop along the bottom like an aquatic ballerina, their toes just skimming the bottom. Hippos are also the only mammal that can open its mouth more than 150˚ – as this guy demonstrates:

Is he yawning because:

He’s threatening another hippo, or ….gulp….you

He’s trying to cool down by yawning into the wind

The most obvious…he’s tired

It could be any of the above. Hippos yawn for all three reasons. So which do you think it is for this guy? Before observing hippos I had no idea how noisy they were with all their grunts. But I guess when you’re resting your head on another hippos hips, it’s a good thing to be communicative! Clearly hippos don’t have personal space issues – unless you decided to join them of course, then that’s a different story!

This was my first time seeing hippos in the wild and I loved every minute of it. iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a well deserved UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our guide from Heritage Tours and Safaris was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about hippos. I couldn’t have asked for a better guide! Heritage Tours and Safaris runs hippo tours throughout the year and daily departures. Visit their website for further info. I also recommend staying at Umlilo Lodge during your visit to iSimangaliso Wetland Park. It’s the most serene guest house I’ve ever stayed in!

Thank you to Heritage Tours and Safaris for my introduction to wild hippos – such a wonderful experience. As always all opinions expressed are my own.

I can completely understand your fascination wit the hippos. I felt the same when we saw them en masse in the Chobe National Park in Tanzania. The only difficult thing was that the water was slowly disappearing in the dry season and they were all squashed together in small waterholes. At least there’s lots of water for the hippos here. I love your photo of the hippo yawning..it’s not easy to capture!